Christopher B. Wright's Blog, page 33

The Drums of War: Part Four

Farraday City Bunker

“Found it!”

Jenny pushes back in her chair, staring at her laptop screen in satisfaction.

CB’s head appears past the edge of the doorframe. “Yeah?”

Jenny nods. “Yeah.”

Moments later CB is standing over her shoulder, peering at the screen. “Where is that. Can you zoom it out?”

Jenny does. “It’s past the north end of the boardwalk. You see that cluster of buildings there? Looks like old warehouses and office buildings.”

“Oh,” CB says. “I know where that is. It’s a Superfund site....

The Drums of War: Part Three

Dobretti's Pizza, Greenwich Village

Special Agent Phillip Henry is sitting in a wooden booth covered in graffiti, staring down at a pizza set on their wooden table, which is also covered in graffiti.

“I can’t eat all this.” His voice carries a mixture of amusement and genuine alarm, causing the man sitting across from him to burst into laughter.

“They don’t sell by the slice, boss.” Special Agent Alan Grant shakes his head, grinning at Henry’s discomfort. “Anyway, you don’t have to eat all...

The Drums of War: Part Two

Farraday City Bunker

By the time Jenny is up and out of the shower CB and Red Shift are already dressed and staring down at the dinner table, where an actual fold-out map of Farraday City is spread over the top.

“Wow,” Jenny says, looking at the map. “I didn’t think they made those things any more.”

“So where did they trace it?” CB looks down at the map in irritation. “Saying ‘it’s in Farraday City’ isn’t very specific. We need something more specific.”

Red Shift shrugs. “Street Ronin thinks Zero...

The Drums of War: Part One

Queens, 7PM

Roger Whitman stops at the end of his block, trying to figure out what’s bothering him about his street. The sun is down, and the streetlights shine dim white light that don’t quite reach the far end of the sidewalks. The street is empty and silent, the only sounds come from the families in their houses: TV’s blaring, music playing, people laughing and shouting. The sounds aren’t overpowering—just there, familiar and comforting. Ten houses on each side of the street, cars in front...

Issue 20: The Drums of War

Story: Christopher Wright
Cover: Pascalle Lepas
Logo: Garth Graham

Curveball Audiobook Podcast: Issue One

CBAudiobookPodcastIssue01.mp3

The full first issue of Curveball in mp3 format, as narrated by the author.

Curveball Issue One: Death of a Hero

Duration: 1:00:14

File size: 55.31mb

America's greatest hero lies dead, murdered in his home by an old enemy--but did his knowledge of Project Recall die with him? Meanwhile, in a city of corruption and excess, CB uncovers a strange series of killings the police are trying desperately to keep hidden.

What is Project Recall?

That Which Does Not Dream: Part Four

July 20, 1992

The silver-haired man hangs in the air, clothed in a thin white robe, suspended by a power that existed before time. The circle of power that imprisons allows nothing to pass through, in or out, unless willed by its master. He gave up trying to escape long ago, so long ago that he barely remembers the attempts, though the failures still haunt his dreams. He has had neither food nor drink in this prison—the power that sustains it also sustains him, nourishing him just enough to ke...

That Which Does Not Dream: Part Three

Airborn

David Bernard shivers in his seat and tries not to show it. The cargo plane isn’t particularly well insulated or heated—enough to keep them from freezing to death, but not much more than that. LaFleur emerges from the cockpit, nods to David, and motions for him to follow as he passes. David gets up, stretches, and follows LaFleur into the cargo area. It’s even colder here. LaFleur, characteristically, doesn’t look the slightest bit uncomfortable.

“It’s time to tell you what we’re doing,...

That Which Does Not Dream: Part Two

10 PM

David pushes the map away and laughs.

“Of course it is.”

He hadn’t really put much stock in LaFleur’s explanation of “magic,” brief as it was. He hadn’t disbelieved it, exactly, but it was a level of detail he’d considered unnecessary. They already had people who could fly, manipulate the weather, run at impossible speeds… it was all magic, as far as David was concerned. The fact that some magic appeared to come from a complicated jumble of genetic sequences and some came from… well, spell...

That Which Does Not Dream: Part One

July 20, 1992

David Bernard wakes up remembering his last rational thought the night before: don’t sleep here, it isn’t safe. Everything after that is a blur, vague images obscured by ever-thickening layers of pain and exhaustion. He’s lying on a mattress with clean sheets. The low hum of an air conditioner kicks in and cool air washes over his face. The constant, faint sound of tropical birds calling to each other can be heard just beyond the bedroom’s window.

I guess I didn’t take my own advi...